| Tripoli International Airport مطار طرابلس العالمي |
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| IATA: TIP – ICAO: HLLT | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Civil Aviation and Meteorology Bureau | ||
| Serves | Tripoli, Libya | ||
| Location | Tripoli, Libya | ||
| Hub for | • Afriqiyah Airways • Buraq Air • Libyan Airlines |
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| Elevation AMSL | 263 ft / 80 m | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Map | |||
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TIP
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| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 09/27 | 3,600 | 11,811 | Asphalt/Concrete |
| 18/36 | 2,235 | 7,333 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2008) | |||
| Passengers | 3,000,000 | ||
| Source: | |||
The Tripoli International Airport (IATA: TIP, ICAO: HLLT) (Arabic: مطار طرابلس العالمي) is an international airport that serves Tripoli, Libya. It is operated by the Civil Aviation and Meteorology Bureau of Libya and is the nation's largest airport. Located in the town of Ben Ghashir 34 kilometres (21 miles) south of the city centre, the airport is a hub for Libyan Airlines; it is also a hub for Afriqiyah Airways and Buraq Air.
With the closure of the National Terminal as part of the construction of the new airport, all flights, international and domestic, leave the airport from the main International Passenger Terminal. The terminal capacity is 3 million passengers a year. The airport handled 2.1 million passengers in 2007, and over 3 million passengers in 2008.[1][2] Two new terminals were to be built within the next several years which would bring the total capacity of the airport to 20 million – the first new terminal was due to open by March 2011.[3]
Libyan Airlines operates the most weekly departures from the airport at 98; it is followed by Afriqiyah Airways (83 flights), Buraq Air (42 flights), EgyptAir (14 flights) and Alitalia (14 flights).[2] Transport to and from Tripoli city center usually involves taking a taxi or shared taxi. Tour operators offer coaches to and from the airport connecting it with numerous hotels in the city centre.
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During World War II, the airfield was used by the British Royal Air Force and was named RAF Castel Benito later changing to RAF Idris in 1952. In the 1950s and 1960s the airport was named Tripoli Idris International Airport.[4][5] The airport was renovated for national and international air travel in September 1978.[6] The existing international terminal was designed and built from a masterplan developed by Alexander Gibb.[7]
The airport closed from March 2011 to October 2011 as a result of United Nations Security Council establishing a no-fly zone over Libya.
Anti-Gaddafi forces were reported to have captured the airport during their advance on Tripoli on 21 August 2011. The airport was officially reopened on 11 October 2011.[8]
The airport has one main passenger terminal that serves international and domestic departures and arrivals. Check-in and arrival facilities for domestic flights are in the same building as the international terminal but in a different area. The terminal hall is a five-story building with an area of 33,000 square metres (360,000 sq ft), and is capable of handling three million passengers annually. Check-in facilities are all located on the ground floor. The departure gates are located on the floor above as is the duty-free section. Beside this is a prayer room and a first-class lounge which serves business class and above on almost all airlines operating from the airport.
The airport operates 24 hours a day. There is no overnight accommodation at the airport but there are plans to build an airport hotel to serve transit flyers. A restaurant can be found on the fourth floor of the international terminal.
The airport's Cargo-handling facilities include cranes, heavy fork lifts, roller pallet lifts and conveyor belts. There is twenty-four-hour fire protection at the airport with 112 trained personnel working at the fire station.
In September 2007, the Libyan government announced a project to upgrade and expand the airport. The eventual total cost of the project, contracted to a joint venture between Brazil's Odebrecht, TAF Construction of Turkey, Consolidated Contractors Company of Lebanon and Vinci Construction of France, is LD2.54 billion ($2.1 billion).[1] The project is to construct two new terminals at the airport (an East Terminal and a West Terminal) on either side of the existing International Terminal. Each of the new terminals will be 162,000 square metres (1,740,000 sq ft) in size, and collectively they will have a capacity of 20 million passengers and a parking lot for 4,400 vehicles. French company Aéroports de Paris designed the terminals, which are expected to serve 100 aircraft simultaneously.[9] Work started in October 2007 on the first new terminal. The initial capacity will be 6 million passengers when the first module comes into operation.[10] Preparation is also underway for the second new terminal, which will eventually bring the total capacity to 20 million passengers; the completed airport is expected to strengthen Libya's position as an African aviation hub.[1] Although the government identified Tripoli airport as a "fast track" project in 2007, leading to construction work starting before the design was fully developed, the project will not be finished until at least May 2011. The cost of the project has also been rising, leading to an intense round of renegotiations.[11]
Note: All commercial flights were suspended until further notice due to the Libyan civil war. So far, nine airlines (Air Malta, Alitalia, Afriqiyah Airways, EgyptAir, Libyan Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, Tunisair and Turkish Airlines) have resumed service. Etihad Airways will begin new service here on 17 January 2012.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Afriqiyah Airways | Benghazi, Istanbul, Cairo, Tunis |
| Air Malta | Malta [12] |
| Alitalia | Rome-Fiumicino |
| Austrian Airlines | Vienna [resumes 25 March 2012] |
| BMI | London-Heathrow [resumes 30 January 2012] |
| EgyptAir | Cairo |
| Emirates | Dubai [resumes 26 March 2012] |
| Etihad Airways | Abu Dhabi [begins 17 January 2012][13] |
| Jat Airways | Belgrade [resumes 26 March 2012] |
| KLM | Amsterdam [resumes 25 March 2012][14] |
| Libyan Airlines | Amman, Benghazi, Cairo, Malta, Sabha, Tunis |
| Lufthansa | Frankfurt [resumes 30 January] |
| Malév Hungarian Airlines | Budapest [resumes 26 March 2012] |
| Qatar Airways | Doha [resumes 25 March 2012] |
| Royal Air Maroc | Casablanca |
| Royal Jordanian | Amman-Queen Alia |
| Tunisair | Tunis |
| Turkish Airlines | Istanbul-Atatürk |
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Afriqiyah Airways | Abidjan, Accra, Amsterdam, Bamako, Bangui, Beijing-Capital, Brussels, Cotonou, Dhaka, Dakar, Douala, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Jeddah, Johannesburg, Khartoum, Kinshasa, Lagos, Lomé, London-Gatwick, Milan-Malpensa, N'Djamena, Nouakchott, Niamey, Ouagadougou, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Rome-Fiumicino |
| Air Algerie | Algiers |
| Alajnihah Airways | Benghazi |
| British Airways | London-Heathrow |
| Buraq Air | Aleppo, Alexandria-El Nouhza, Benghazi, Cairo, Istanbul-Atatürk, Beida, Rabat, Sabha, Sarajevo, Tunis |
| Libyan Airlines | Alexandria-El Nouhza, Algiers, Ankara, Athens, Beida, Casablanca, Damascus, Dubai, Ghadames, Ghat, Istanbul-Atatürk, Jeddah, Kiev-Borispyl, London-Heathrow, Madrid, Manchester, Milan-Malpensa, Rome-Fiumicino, Sirte, Tobruk |
| Nayzak Air Transport | Benghazi, Beida, Sabha, Tunis |
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